Prison nurse 'cried' over killer's death

Four guards are accused of murder in the beating of the death row inmate.

By BETH KASSAB

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 26, 2000

GAINESVILLE -- A senior nurse on duty the day death row inmate Frank Valdes died said she regrets not doing more to save him and said one of the guards charged with his murder discouraged her from coming to Valdes' assistance.

In statements released Friday, Senior Registered Nurse Denise McEarchern told investigators that Capt. Timothy Thornton called her in the prison infirmary about 2 p.m. on July 17, the day Valdes died. Thornton said Valdes was intentionally and repeatedly throwing himself off the bunk in his cell.

McEarchern said she did not go to his cell to check on him because Thornton told her there was no need to. She said when she did go to the X Wing, where Valdes was held, at about 3 p.m. on her regular rounds, she found several guards performing CPR on him. He was transferred to the prison emergency room and later to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, where he died.

"And you know, I'm feeling bad about it too," she told investigators. "I cried, cried, cried. If I had come down there at 2 p.m., he may still be alive."

The nurse's statement was included in 2,600 pages of documents released Friday by the State Attorney's Office in Gainesville.

The guards charged with Valdes' murder have said Valdes was killed by self-inflicted injuries.

An autopsy released earlier this year showed Valdes had 22 fractured ribs, and his jaw, sternum, collarbone, shoulder, spine and nose were broken. There were boot marks on his body and his testicles were swollen.

Guards transported Valdes to the prison emergency room earlier that morning after an "extraction team" had removed him from his cell for defiant behavior.

McEarchern said she heard the guards saying they thought Valdes could have been armed with a knife when they first moved in on him. She noted they were wary of Valdes, who was on death row for killing a corrections officer.

"They weren't sure if he had a knife because this is an inmate that had killed an officer and had been threatening staff over the last three years," she said.

When Valdes was brought to the hectic infirmary that morning, McEarchern said she did not get a good look at him except to notice that he had blood on his teeth. She said the emergency room was so busy that proper records of his condition were not written down. She also said no photos were taken of Valdes when he came to the infirmary after the extraction.

Valdes was returned to his cell sometime after 10:30 a.m. and she said she did not hear from Capt. Thornton again until he called her at 2 p.m. McEarchern said she suggested Valdes be moved to a cell without a bunk so that he could not hurt himself.

"I do remember, and I hate telling this, I do remember saying something to them to the effect of "If he keeps falling off the bunk, then why don't you move him to another cell in B wing, where there is no bunks? He said all the cells on B wing were full. And I said, no sir, they're not.' "

McEarchern said Thornton insisted that the cells without bunks were full and she told him she would be down to X Wing during 3 p.m. rounds. Near the end of her interview about the incident with Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents, McEarchern reiterated her regret for not checking on Valdes earlier.

"We understand that the Captain told you that they didn't need you," FDLE Agent Tom Roper told her.

"I still had a gut feeling, but I didn't have a gut feeling. I did, but I didn't," she said. "I, I should have gone down there. This has never happened to me in the 10 years I've been here. They've always brought them to us."

According to an index of records related to the case, McEarchern underwent two polygraph examinations -- indicating her potential importance as a witness during the trial. The results of those tests were not released.

Capt. Thornton, Sgt. Jason Griffis and guards Charles Brown and Robert Sauls have been charged with second-degree murder.

Defense attorneys for the prison guards will argue in court next week that at least 1,000 more documents related to the case be kept secret to avoid prejudicing potential jurors. A trial date has not been set.

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